Museum Theft

and you leave behind you a heroic
trail of desolation
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---------------------------------
Thanks to Laura Crone for script revisions: / lauracrone
The Feather Thief (Kirk Wallace Johnson, 2018)
Western Reactions to Benin Bronzes: • Western reactions to B...
Art of the Steal: On the Trail of World's Most Ingenious Thief : www.wired.com/2010/03/ff-mast...
The Feather Heist (This American Life): www.thisamericanlife.org/654/...
Secrets of the World’s Greatest Art Thief: www.gq.com/story/secrets-of-t...
Nairaland Forum: www.nairaland.com/984559/wall...
Will The British Museum Ever Return These Stolen Artifacts?: www.history.com/news/british-...
Long in Exile, the Looted Benin Bronzes Tell the Story of a Mighty African Kingdom: www.artsy.net/article/artsy-e...
Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993)
Music Used: Beethoven: Symphony No.7 in A major op.92 - II Allegretto, Invisible Inc: Mission Select, Nier Automata: Forest Kingdom and Peaceful Sleep (Music Box), Roller Coaster Tycoon 2: Main Theme, Max Payne 3: FUTURE, World of Goo: Burning Man, Are You Coming Home Soon Love MOM

[@JacobGeller]

If you liked this video, I’ve made a FREE full-length video commentary with tons of thoughts and details I couldn’t fit into the essay. Check it out right here: www.patreon.com/posts/directors-museum-31360444

[@cezariusus7595]

Nier Automata: Forest Kingdom and Peaceful Sleep (Music Box) you just got a like from me

[@AlchemyForTheWin]

Thankyou for making what is probably my favorite video on this site. Between the video's content and the musical scores, it hits an emotional note that leaves me, if not outright, close to tears. The descriptions of Stephanes life and his reaction to his collections destruction in particular gets me.

[@haphazardlark1502]

Jacob Geller I keep wondering why I’ve developed the habit of reading YT comments because I KNEW they were infamous and didn’t touch them for years, I always spend too much time absorbed in them, there’s always so much genuinely upsetting and infuriating stuff even if it’s peppered into otherwise engaging reactions like your modern art video. I knew scrolling down that it would attract the flies I’m binge watching stuff to distract myself from right now but it’s a compulsion at this point, here and on twitter. But every time I start going “you know what, I’m gonna work on breaking this unhealthy habit”, I scroll down on the phone and find something that makes me go “nevermind gonna continue mining in the toxic waste dumps of the Internet forever there’s so much cool stuff hidden in here too bad about the lack of a hazmat suit I’ve lost the metaphor ah shit-

[@bhotaling1]

Did you include the theft of STORM ON THE SEA OF GALELEE (SP), from the Gardner Museum in Boston?

[@antoniopacelli]

I want your beard to use as facemask during this winter.... It looks sound and probably feel like rough wool. Don't wanna you to feel bad about it, it's just that I need it because I have non and my cold protections are less advanced. Ever thought about starting to make a seasonal job out of it? If you start shaving in August by winter you could sell lots of facemask and still having time to grow yours. I suppose that you have in this video is bout 3/4 days... if you sell it 10/15$ you can have a new little income to invest in KZbin videos so that yours high quality videos will eliminate the kittens and puppies that are annihilating freedom of Human expression... What you think?

[@zach123101]

today's youth are always stealing birds to sell on the black market to buy golden flutes

[@brandonclarke436]

I legitamently dont get it

[@araphel1836]

@@brandonclarke436 Have you not watched the video...?

[@brandonclarke436]

@@araphel1836 i did

[@GamingOS]

@@brandonclarke436 It literally makes sense if you watch the video

[@brandonclarke436]

@@GamingOS Maybe im dumb

[@lemonlordminecraft]

"You stole hundreds of pieces of art spanning thousands of years of human history? Why?" "I wanted... hmm... fancy attic."

[@tylerwardle4854]

"But that's absurd, you stole millions of-" "F A N C Y A T T I C"

[@enzoqueijao]

"We have been stealing pieces of art that span through thousands of years in history. I'm sorry we didn-" *"Burn"*

[@ekki1993]

For a while I thought you were talking about the British Empire there.

[@nevreiha]

MOOOM! WHERE'S MY IRREPLACEABLE ILLEGAL RENNAISANCE ART. Oh that old mess, I burned it in the woods and threw it in the canal. * procedes to kill mom *

[@user-sf4fy8bq1h]

@@dirtypure2023 hi

[@ParadoxGavel]

As a zoologist, the first section about the last remaining specimens of these extinct birds on earth being stolen and torn apart because one teenager wanted to be The World's Most Special Boy at lure-making and flute-playing makes my blood absolutely boil.

[@Natalie-101]

As a zoologist AND flautist I'm torn! I mean I'm leaning one way obviously but it's funny that 2 of my fields aligned in this story lol

[@LAK_770]

In terms of egregiously antisocial behavior and damage/danger to society, this is almost objectively as serious as murder. This is an individual under the influence of wildly aberrant urges and decision-making capacities who cannot be trusted not to cause harm, and should be deprived of the ability to do so in the future

[@slickzMdzn]

​@@LAK_770 Totally agree. But on the other hand it still feels justified for me. Not the act itself but as a story to go down in the history of humankind. This story will maybe get unfolded again way after we have lived our lives and still provoke feelings in the people living then. It's just the same as any story you hear today from 3000 years ago. Some stories we marvel at and other ones we can't find the words to describe our pain but it's still part of human history.

[@queerulantin6431]

Oh I hate that

[@MisterFoxton]

​@@slickzMdzn It's fun that the burning of the Library of Alexandria can still cause physical pain to humanity. Is fun the word? Yeah let's stick with fun.

[@thundercocku]

"and she SET THEM ON FIRE" i physically flinched from shock

[@Carbon2861996]

🎵 All my troubles on a burning pile 🎶

[@hmnhntr]

Seriously. Stephan's mother is the real monster here. Wtf. So much senseless destruction of history.

[@Kimbie]

@@hmnhntr Right, but have you come to the realization that your own son has stolen hundreds of absolutely priceless works of art, then housed them *within your home?* The whole situation would make anyone go through pure, unadulterated panic.

[@dog-ez2nu]

@@Kimbie dont care, she gets the chop chop

[@triq364]

@Kimbie The police suspected that she did it to protect her son. Personally, I can see that being the case. Except for her stating that she destroyed those works out of anger at her son and that she wanted to punish him. Either way, I'm not entirely sure I can say I'd do the same or that I can relate? Who knows, maybe I would, but that's still a bad excuse. I'm not really filled with bloodlust, but yeah the thought of these works being destroyed does upset me. That being said, it's not like the other 2 stories weren't also about just as if not even worse acts. Also, I couldn't find anything about burning art (I might just be blind), but she did shred those works and stuff them down a garbage disposal unit.

[@sargecad3t]

That part about the paintings burning caused me physical pain.

[@Dorian_sapiens]

I tensed up as soon as I realized that's where the story was going.

[@lux551]

The mother should have gotten more jail time than the thief.

[@joeysnowy4110]

i no joke started to cry but also i've just had a Week

[@afish2281]

The thief kept the art safe, his mom destroyed it. I'm sure she would have not gotten in trouble because she didn't know about it. She deserves more time in jail.

[@Gloomdrake]

Angry Guy Her crime is objectively worse

[@bettschwere]

the bird theft story is so whimsical and silly and so infuriating at the same time it should be impossible.

[@Selichan42_SA]

videos of flute playing are still on his youtube channel! it's fucking wild. the this american life episode goes into more detail about how he pulled it off and about hte culture of the fly tying forum that's also really interesting

[@trashteamracing8262]

I find it strange that there's a market for extinct bird feathers.

[@ZeroPolzin]

@@Selichan42_SAi could have sworn i heard the story before, thanks

[@junyan2811]

average roald dahl book be like

[@catdunkley]

The bronzes are so much worse when you realize (like many pieces of indigenous art) that removing it from context means that it’s meaning is, in part, gone. They were shuffled up in a way that we may never be able to untangle changing what they mean forever. And unfortunately this happens with a lot of wall and floor mosaics especially where orientation that is often super important is just lost. It’s so sad and frustrating.

[@artsycandy9183]

I didn’t know about Benin being such a lucrative kingdom. A lot of people are saying how the paintings being burnt hurt, and as an art history specialist and artist it did, but the loss of an entire part of a country’s people and history over nothing is genuinely disturbing. And that line at the end sent me down a spiral omfg.

[@itscris01]

I know about the Benin Bronzes from my college art history course. When I heard 'Benin', I was like 'no, STOP'. I might need to go back and listen again (I feel like everything was shock after shock) but I was about to flip my shit thinking he STOLE THOSE TOO. Edit: Wait, some of those are what got nailed to that guy's HENHOUSE ALCJLSLXJ For a little while, those chickens probably lived in the most valuable coop on earth.

[@rbynam9055]

It's not the same Benin. Nation maybe is a better word, but not super sure.

[@josiahstreetman8806]

Their wealth was built on selling other Africans to the Portuguese and other slave traders. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to cry for the destruction of slavery by a country that had already abolished the slave trade.

[@Highlow9]

Fun fact. The German Benin statues have been returned, they should have been put in a museum, but have now become private property of the "emperor". So it would have been better to just keep them in Germany. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin_Bronzes#Subsequent_sales,_restitutions_and_repatriations

[@Badficwriter]

@@Highlow9 This is one of the difficulties of colonialism. You have done wrong, but there is often no true heir to pay compensation to. There are a thousand different greedy hands all proclaiming themselves the rightful owners. Its wrong that one hand is enriched over others, but isn't that the choice of that nation, bad as it may seem? Is it really the right of the observers to decide for that nation what is the correct action? But sometimes, you knowingly choose sin. ISIS began destroying irreplaceable artifacts, leaving something preserved in the British Museum of the cultures the terrorists were destroying. And I'm okay with that.

[@madskatz8932]

there is a deep sense of profound (sometimes selfish) loss when hearing about great works of art or architecture that were needlessly destroyed and the the knowledge that it would be impossible to replace (and that _i_ - along w every one else on earth - will no longer be able to see). truly terrifying because it feels like it should be something eternal and a monument to humanity, but instead fell victim to the worst parts of it. thank you for this video confronting this loss, i was very moved by it.

[@user-xp8nq5mf9y]

it feels like a family member died.

[@BigOlNips]

Yeah it definitely feels like death.

[@nonaide]

@Dar Castro I thought the paint just wore off/eroded over time and people assumed/preferred to believe that they were pure white marble by design. I've never heard that they were faked or replaced before..

[@obliviousotterI]

My big love is trains, and it hurts so much to read about lost railways that I'll never travel on, and lost locomotives I'll never travel behind.

[@10z20]

@Dar Castro That's not true at all, that's a complete lie. I mean, yes it is true that Greek statues used to be far more vivid in color, but that's because the paint diminished over time. There is no white supremacist conspiracy...

[@sentientblender]

Can we talk for a moment about how refreshing it is to shake off the notion that caring about art is somehow weak that looms over a lot of the internet? Having someone on youtube who embraces discussion of art like this without drowning it in fifteen layers of irony and anti-intellectualism is an absolute breath of fresh air. Thanks for doing what you do, Jacob.

[@crazykirsch]

I think there's two distinct negative ideologies held against the discussion of art. The "toxic" anti-intellectual one you describe is the same kind of pervasive attitude that made all things nerdy or geeky uncool for decades, but has reversed pretty hardcore post-internet. The other is one I kind of hold myself and that's not giving a shit about the post-modern Warhol-esque pop-art that puts a hyper-inflated importance on the mundane in an attempt to appear deep or intellectual. The whole "What is art?" argument will always exist but anybody can put up a blank canvas with a single black dot, or do some "outrageous" performance art. It doesn't change that most of it is low-effort attempts to circlejerk their own faux cultural-superiority. American Beauty's "plastic bag" is the perfect example of this and for the most part they're all aging incredibly poorly.

[@Supersmile330]

@@crazykirsch Are you describing modern art/photography/performance or "so-deep" instagram philosophers? Because what seems easy or weirdly unspectacular to you, removed from the piece of art as you are by a screen and a camera lens, makes more sense when you see the art in person. I can't say much about abstract dance/performance since the few performances I went to didn't really do much for me, but modern art or abstract art is much more vibrant if experienced than on a photo. Actually Jacob Geller did another video on it called Who's Afraid of Modern Art, it's really interesting.

[@seanaaron7888]

I think that notion exists because the bulk of the internet population, especially social media and KZbin, are working class. Anti-intellectualism, hyper masculinity permeates the working class and leads to things like art or other intelligent topics/endeavors being derided. And I am in the working class, before anyone accuses me of classism...

[@Supersmile330]

@@seanaaron7888 I don't think art is fundamentally more enjoyed my "intelligent" people. Sure, lots of pieces of art are more fascinating if you know their context, but in the end the need for and enjoyment of beauty and expression is something hard-wired into the human brain. You don't have to be intelligent to create or enjoy art in any form.

[@karmaslogan]

crazykirsch of course it’s ageing. Post modernism is now a chapter in art history, and the question “what is art hasn’t been talked about by artists for a decade or so. The art you talk about is ageing and so are the criticisms you level against it.

[@phantomkitten73]

"If this is not done, future ages will certainly look back upon us as a people so immersed in the pursuit of wealth as to be blind to higher considerations." - Alfred Russel Wallace, speaking to the importance of preserving his collection of birds of paradise.

[@youmukonpaku3168]

and at this point the conclusion is that if there even are any future ages to consider us, they will and they will be correct in that assessment.

[@r.j.penfold]

The first two stories had my blood boiling but the last one hust filled me with a sorrow I haven't felt in a while. Until the "we're loaning you guys your own property" and then I was pissed again.

[@Jazzisa311]

yeah lol my reaction would be: '''eeehm... sure, we'll borrow them from you" and just never give it back to them, since it's theirs in the first place XD.

[@Dorsidwarf]

It's because the UK government literally won't let the british museum give anything valuable back. They dead ass wrote a LAW to stop the museum from returning its stolen treasures.

[@stareeknight8839]

​@Jazzisa311 do they have a receipt?

[@Davis...]

Same... my respect for the Queen went down the drain after that

[@Rosie-yt8nd]

i think that part was said a little confusingly. I visited a museum that is part of the effort to return and in the place where the bronzes used to be, they have an exhibit explaining the theft, reasons for returning etc. the bronzes will belong to Benin. it's the museums who will negotiate with Benin over loaning the pieces to display. while controversial if they should be loaned at all or stay in Benin, at least this gives Benin compensation and control to set terms. idk about the british museum but thats what a group of museums frm other countries are doing

[@h.j.froehlich326]

Every time I think of the flyfishing lure story, I feel like it's a Wes Anderson movie waiting to happen.

[@hatman4818]

... Yeah... Yeah, that sounds like him XD

[@ZgermanGuy.]

Perfect comment

[@AwesomeAutismHC]

Especially after The French Dispatch, it 1000% is.

[@crazycrab9467]

Colourful fishing lures can work well in catching fish. The guy who made this video clearly never went fishing.

[@patcho7518]

⁠@@crazycrab9467is that the real point of fishing though? Its not really to catch fish, unless you plan on eating them.

[@man_with_hat8728]

This video legit breaks my heart Hearing the paintings were burned is more painful than a kick in the balls

[@cookiemonster59263]

My stomach actually dropped and I wanted to cry. I'm a writer and painter by trade and the careless destruction of irreplaceable history genuinely made me sick

[@thatguy7340]

I have gone my whole life never hearing about these paintings, this theif, the Katinga or whatever extinct bird the evidence of who was destroyed, nor Nigerian metalworkers. "Irreplaceable history" my ass, I lived before this video and I will live after it as I always have.

[@idot3863]

@@thatguy7340 bruh, it is literally knowledge that you cant get back, knowledge that was important. you, me and everyone else will "live on" but its sad to think that these pieces are destroyed for basically no real profit to humanity.

[@en2336]

@@thatguy7340 What a selfish and self centered perspective. You sound like someone nobody would miss if you died.

[@brandonj7586]

@@thatguy7340 just becuse YOU didn't know about it doesn't mean it did not matter. It is a peice of history that can't be truly replaced, thus, "irreplaceable history"

[@brutusmagnuson315]

What's also sad is that every time I talk about the accomplishments of northern Native American peoples (including the Cahokians, who basically built a proto-Mall of America) or people in west and central Africa, people either have no idea what I'm talking about, think I'm making things up, or accuse me of rewriting history. The ravaging of history over the past 200 years is truly heartbreaking.

[@sandrafaith]

Appalling. Definitely appalling.

[@Oldass_Deadass_dumbass_channel]

That's literally one of the main reasons why Mormons exist.

[@jacobp8294]

History is ravaged by time. We are the torch-holders, time-keepers, and quiet-observers. We do not cry over the lost times, but celebrate the saved ones.

[@Fractured_Unity]

It is revisionist to claim those civilizations were more advanced than Eurasian ones though. Eurasia is where most of modern society developed due to their increased flow of trade. It’s important to tell racists that humans from other places were capable of achieving great things, but it’s also important to not have blinders to why those civilizations got dominated by Eurasian ones consistently throughout history until Western Europe invented the LLC, opening Pandora’s Box that is the modern liberal world.

[@dannybryant-rh6sw]

​@Fractured_Unity dude Europeans were literally plague carriers. They had access to Chinese gun powder and firearms. It's not because Europeans where inherently superior.

[@louisebean2744]

The story about the stolen birds and the loss of scientific knowledge reminds me of the story of icthyologist David Starr Jordan, who spent a life time collecting, studying, and sorting fish specimen only to have the collection shattered and mutilated in an earthquake. Something about the permanent loss of a holotype of a species, especially one that is endangered or extinct, makes my stomach churn and my heart heavy. It's hard not to painfully wonder what knowledge was stored by lost collections like David Starr Jordan's or the ornithology department of the British Museum or even the civilization of Benin and how it it's continued existence might have benefited humanity with it's insight

[@YouveBeenMegged]

At least those were lost in a natural tragedy, and no one is really to blame. Still awful and tragic, but we can't really be mad at anyone. The birds and the knowledge attached to them were intentionally destroyed in an act of human selfishness, and Edwin Rist basically got away with it. That's what really makes my blood boil.

[@iiiiitsmagreta1240]

Please don't make me think about the Spinosaurus holotype again 😢

[@dylanchouinard6141]

I legitimately said ‘No’ to myself when I heard what had happened to those paintings. It took everything in me to not shout or scream at the destruction. How could someone just casually destroy something so beautiful, even if it was incriminating, peacefully handing them back to the police could have shortened any sentences!

[@ElectromagNick]

Panic. People's minds tend to shut down when they panic, and they make irrational decisions because, in the moment, those decisions seem to be the only options.

[@dylanchouinard6141]

ElectromagNick even so, I still can’t see how destruction would be a good idea, even in a state of panic

[@ElectromagNick]

@@dylanchouinard6141 Humans are anything but rational. Bad ideas happen all the time.

[@dylanchouinard6141]

ElectromagNick true, still a shame.

[@LKRaider]

The two women were the worst criminals of all and probably didn't get any charges

[@SeaMager]

The bird thief story really got my blood boiling the most out of the three. All Edwin Rist got was essentially a slap on the rist. A huge fine to be sure, but only a 12 month sentence? Plus he was able to still get his diploma? This man destroyed knowledge, science, and creatures getting rarer by the minute. Not only that but he walked away with dozens of specimens still missing, or cut to pieces for a hobby. I just can't process some of this madness anymore.

[@justalostlocal]

He should've been a demonstration to warn future thieves. 3 years jail with community service and has to payback the value of the stolen birds. Even then it's hardly a atonement what were lost.

[@obliviousotterI]

@@justalostlocal How would he ever pay back the value of those priceless specimens?

[@fennelcomeaux9663]

Was that an intentional pun?

[@Evan11of10]

Rist was a dumb kid, but he's a living breathing human person. He stole dead birds. Kind of insane to want to lock him up or ruin his future when no one was actually hurt. If he was a rapist or a murderer, sure, but a thief? And from a museum, not another person? Prison time of any kind would be out of hand.

[@iansteelmatheson]

excuse me? it got your blood boiling because you deem his punishment to be light? what punishment did the british empire receive that was harsher than Edwin's?

[@odessawild7798]

Edwin upsets me, the desire to be special and better than anyone else is annoying, and Stepháne is frustrating, the desire to hide the art and hoard it for himself, and his girlfriend, but there's something magical about that to me, the desire to bring the stars down just for yourself, almost admirable, but not really, his mother makes me mad, but I can understand why she did what she did. The pillaging done by the conquerors is what truly makes my blood boil. Destruction of a culture, I had never even HEARD of Benin before this video. Thank you for the video

[@buzzkillmusic]

When he first mentioned the Kingdom of Benin I was mentally counting down until he revealed the British inevitably looted it

[@elliotht2017]

I really appreciate how you're so sincere about everything, and you obviously have real emotions about what you're talking about. I mean I love detached irony once and a while, but its so refreshing to get away from that. It feels like a lot of folks shy away from emotional honesty because they think its corny or whatever, but it's something I think we really need to return to.

[@JacobGeller]

Thank you! This is something I really try to put into my work, glad it's coming through :)

[@lachlanrussell18]

@@JacobGeller hey! I know this is a two year old comment I’m responding to, and you likely won’t see it, but I’d just like to both agree with this person and add my own experience on top. As someone who’s struggled a lot with emotional honesty, both with perceiving myself as not being emotionally honest and with my own frustrations with parsing the veneer of irony placed upon everything by the internet, I just wanted to say that your brand of… I don’t know what the word would be- grandeur? The way that you place emotional importance on everything, good or bad, and care about what you’re saying and what you’re presenting? It resonates very deeply with me, hence why I’ve watched and revisited your entire body of work. You romanticise the good, get caught in the existential dread of the bad, and make even the mundane entertaining- it feels like you allow yourself to be emotionally moved by the world around you, and in an increasingly numb and desensitised lived experience, I find the significance you place on both triumphs and tragedies a very nice rollercoaster to ride that somehow doesn’t leave me emotionally existed. We learned about the Holocaust in school, every day I see comparisons to the nazis as a simple literary tool in a comments section- but it was your video that really connected the dots in my Gen Z brain of just how fucking massive and tragic it was- not just in numbers known but not processed, but in raw impact- because you were the first person to speak about it with the emotion and grandeur that a tragedy like that needs. And that’s only one video. When you speak about happy events, or those with a good ending, it has the same impact. It’s nice to watch a creator who allows themselves to feel, and takes others along with their emotions. That is the signifier of what makes something art, I think- the emotional honesty to share, and by process of that, be vulnerable, intentionally or otherwise. Very glad to have found your channel- I find your videos very comforting.

[@slickzMdzn]

​@@lachlanrussell18 Be well aware that even tough Jacob himself may haven't seen this comment others have and resonated with it. Big time. Expressing one's thoughts and feelings isn't always easy or rather almost never. But by trying and trying we eventually get better slowly and gradually. Someday we eventually arrive at a point where we feel comfortable to do so more often and to a more diverse circle of people. Whatever you encounter don't give up. Thank you.

[@justjoe4390]

The problem I have with detached irony is that I'm not a sarcastic type of person. I've always been straight-forward and very open about my emotions, except maybe in highly formal situations. When people take up a stance of detached irony, they strike me as wishing to maintain not only distance from others, but an air of superiority that can never be possibly met. It weirds me out whenever people who claim to care about something only respond to it with near-emotionless irony or bitter sarcasm.

[@americossack3870]

"These bronzes can actually be returned" Oh, finally! "On loan." ....What.

[@BP-vc4em]

Capitalism in a nutshell

[@saliddressing793]

Kind of reminds me of the times my sister would steal my Pokemon cards and then sell them back to me

[@PhoenixStriker1]

Considering some of the reasons British people voted for Brexit, it’s rather unsurprising that they wouldn’t want to truly atone for the sins of their past

[@stan6297]

Nicholas Kalas-Hernandez In a just world there would be no choice by the people of Britain, the government of Britain or the British Museum, an international court would rule that stolen art must be returned on the dime of the current owner of that stolen art.

[@enzoqueijao]

@MAX POWERS Is that really how you view it? War trophies?

[@crypticorvids]

Honestly the worst part about the bronzes that I remember is that the metal workers in Benin dont know how to re-create the Benin Bronzes because the method was lost alongside the physical objects, which makes the refusal to properly give them back all the more frustrating l.

[@4rumani]

They obviously can't make them. The civilization they originated from was destroyed. How would they have preserved the craft?

[@zwozo]

Your comparison of Benin to Atlantis was so funny because reminded me of something I learned in an African art history class. When Europeans discovered the very realistic bronze head sculptures from Ife (also in Nigeria, and also very close to the Kingdom of Benin) they were in such disbelief that an African culture could create art like that that they insisted it must've been made by some lost Greek colony in Africa... and also that this lost Greek colony was the place that inspired the legend of Atlantis. (To anyone reading this: look up the bronze heads from Ife, they're absolutely beautiful)

[@blakemcmillan5680]

I know this is 3 years late, but I just looked those head up, and my god are you right about them being beautiful. It’s hard to believe (at least nowadays) that anyone would think a Greek colony would make heads that are clearly based on African people. I guess it just goes to show the arrogance of the people then.

[@LemonsRage]

It really makes me sad when I see all these racists try to put down african people and the hsitroy of the continent by saying that people there live in mud houses and have always been. When in reallity africa has and had a very big history much like europe and was for most of history pretty big in trading and only lost all of that because the brits, french and some other countries tried to "colonialize" them. Imagine being so full of yourself that you cann't belevie that the bronze heads from ife were made from native people just bc they have diffrent color... It's the same with the pyramids and ancient egypt. Peolpe cann't wrap their heads around the fact that non european people were able to build those monuments. If the pyramids were in the midde of germany noone would think that aliens build them...

[@SendyTheEndless]

That "ProjectnamefinalFINAL" really hit home

[@razbuten]

finalFINAL... This feels like an attack

[@TheOneTrueNothing]

Yo! didn't expect to see you in here, though come to think of it it shouldn't be surprising given you're also a video essayist x3

[@reillypeters7608]

Hey wait a minute sir...I know you!

[@googiegress7459]

I came out to have a good time tonight and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now

[@resevoirdog]

Big fan raz! Keep doing what you do

[@seventhspecter7]

I just realized that the museum I work at has a Benin Bronze, and it's so conflicting. It's this beautiful, ornate piece with so much masterful craftsmanship put into it, but knowing the history of why this piece is in an American museum just guts me.

[@ninamartin1084]

If it makes you fell better Benjamin, there are probably descendants alive of the original owners of every item in your museum. But would they even want to give house space to these items? Not everybody values the past like you and I do. Personally, I would love to turn my house into a museum, like a time capsule of life now. Create some history right now, and send that into the future.

[@isaakpdm]

​@@ninamartin1084 Also, since it is an american museum, there is currently a lawsuit that tries to prevent them being returned by descendants of enslaved Africans: the "Restitution Study Group"

[@iiiiitsmagreta1240]

@@ninamartin1084 This is different tho - there are people who actually _want_ these bronzes back, have repeatedly _asked_ for them back, who _deeply value the past that was stolen from them_ and just want the thieves of said past to return a few tiny pieces of it.

[@Cometstarlight]

It physically *hurts* me to watch this video. As a zoology major who adores history, I want to just sit in the corner and cry. Very wonderfully made though.

[@Ral9284]

[ 02:54] "It's not a museum where there's like thousands of birds flying around..." Aviary. That's an Aviary, that's the word you are looking for!

[@missingdev0948]

*flying bird museum Please consider your word choice next time.

[@HilariouslyScary]

I love how genuinely angry you seem in these videos. That's kinda a weird sentence, but it makes the video so much more powerful. You really have a mastery of presenting information in a way that feels effective but maintains a clear narrative. If you just said, "This guy stole a bunch of valuable art and when he got caught, his mom destroyed it all." I would feel bad, but it wouldn't have the same impact as 13:03. That just sends chills down my spine! Excellent video as always. I'm really excited to see more from you in the future!

[@hidi__]

HilariouslyScary jacob's videos always blow me away with how impactful they feel and how much emotion they fill me with.

[@apollo6409]

You verbalise a lot of feelings I hadn't understood until now, *really* well. When I was a lot younger, I loved museums, and that makes up a big part of my dad's interpretation of my personality to this day. He thinks that when I'm somber at museums, it's because of a failing interest in history, but it's not- It's an uneasy sense of loss. I couldn't wonder in awe at Nigeria's bronzes when I went to the museum a few years ago. I could only think about how they belonged in Nigeria.

[@DonkoXI]

I recently went to a museum with a display on Angkor, the massive ancient city in modern day Cambodia. Everything there was voluntarily on display from Cambodia. It was the first time much of it was ever let out on tour. Even though it was all voluntary, it was still sort of painful to see all these status and stone carvings removed from where they belong. I don't know where to ethically stand on this, but ethics aside it was still emotionally difficult to see all of this ancient history juxtaposed against the backdrop of a modern museum.

[@zach9339]

extremely wild video to have randomly picked to listen to in the background while I work, because I'm sitting in a museum ornithology collection measuring bird skins as part of my phd research. it compelled me to go take a sneaky peek at the bird of paradise skins. kind of a surreal feeling looking at them to know they're prized by anyone other than biologists like me

[@DuckGoesQuack]

Stéphane Breitwieser strikes me of an interesting individual. Like, he took this insane amount of art, only to keep in in his room. For some reason that hits me as something beautifully naive... he wanted to own them for himself, to be in their presence - to be enveloped in their magnificence. and then they are destroyed and so is he. I think about that sometimes, when I go into an exhibit. I think of the people who own such a painting, a masterpiece, and I wonder how some rich dude feels like having a Monet hanging on the wall of his house. I wonder if he would feel the same as Stéphane Breitwieser, if that painting was burned. I wonder. Although, don't steal paintings... us other people would also like to see them, plz. Also, keep it up Jacob! I love your videos :D

[@mayube9292]

My view of him is that he was/is an art aficionado. He loves art, he loves the culture, the history. Only problem being he doesn't have the money to buy these pieces as a typical aficionado would, so he stole them.

[@rileyjordan8114]

I love the idea of having historic, valuable art hanging in my house aside from the responsibility that I would feel to keep it in good condition

[@cursedGalataea]

Every piece of art in a museum is a prisoner... Regina Spektor wrote a song about it called All the Rowboats

[@CestKevvie]

Thankful that you acknowledged historic African art! So many art historians flat out ignore African art to an appalling degree. Thank you for being better than them.

[@justjoe4390]

Really? In my experience, African art has been highly appreciated for at least a couple decades now. I've read many books on art from different tribes, kingdoms, ancient empires, etc. I don't see any dismissal of African art except from general school curriculum and white supremacists.

[@gustavogodoy9626]

"Pfft. Knowledge is for nerds! I just want my Gold flute!"

[@toad1222]

"And she set them on fire." Humanitys Ability for short sightedness is remarkable.

[@TheCivildecay]

After convincing me to buy the outer wilds, I was kinda afraid you were going to convince me to steal from museums ;)

[@zerofatzunlisted5074]

lol

[@Sm0k3turt]

Same bro

[@googiegress7459]

Lotta nice DLC in the British Museum bro ...

[@blakcnagisa01]

you can always steal from the overpriced gift shop 🤷‍♀️

[@iiiiitsmagreta1240]

pssst... steal the Benin bronzes and return them to Nigeria...

[@awesomesausome1557]

That moment when he tells you the mother set the paintings on fire, you can feel the rage and anger he feels at this disgusting act.

[@ashurean]

I wouldnt be surprised to hear if that kid, who loved art so much, never spoke to his mother again after that

[@Z.O.M.G]

Hearing how the mother destroyed the priceless works of art made my eyes sting

[@penguinsrockrgr8yt216]

“It’s not a museum where there’s 1000s of birds flying around though that would be cool” That’s called an aviary sir

[@WangleLine]

I didn't know beards could have edges this sharp. This is fascinating

[@Sirvaria]

@Danny BRITZMAN nah thats been done before, shake it up and use a closet maybe

[@ratoh1710]

I've never thought of myself as an art aficionado and never really been able to appreciate fine art, but when i think of the sheer scale of what has been lost to time and man I feel such a profound sense of loss and sorrow.

[@Smokescale]

I'm in the middle of "The Feather Thief" (at your recommendation) and it is --expletive deleted-- NUTS!! I had to come back and rewatch this video (over on Nebula of course!) Thanks for bringing this absolutely baffling tale to my attention! Looking forward to more of your work! You are one of my favorite--if not my *actual* favorite--video essayists out there!

[@amatsu-ryu4067]

This video is two years old but I'd just like to mention how fitting the tracks from NieR: Automata used in this video are. For those who haven't played a Nier game, almost all of the tracks in the series have lyrics sung in an invented language called "Chaos Language". The lore on this language is quite dubious, as none of the in-game characters speak it from our perspective (as far as I know), but what we do know is it's supposed to be a language created after thousands of years of human history, supposedly because all languages used in our current era are, or were, forgotten. It's a reminder in those games that thousands of years of human history are just gone in the setting of the Nier series, kind of like how all of the history of those burned paintings and stolen bird corpses are wiped off the face of the Earth.

[@happycamperds9917]

The music from gooballs is weirdly fitting too, as it is a game about the exploitation of an endangered species.

[@ZdkDzk]

Great video, but it's pronounced 'be - neen'. Even still it's nice to hear people talk about my home culture. Thank you.

[@JacobGeller]

Ack I know, I realized the pronunciation was wrong after the whole filming was done. my apologies!

[@ZdkDzk]

@@JacobGeller don't worry about it. I love the videos. The way you use games and art as tools to talk about subjects beyond just the games themselves is refreshing. Hope you find success and satisfaction.

[@jaycub8547]

Hope this is a how to video. Gonna steal me a museum.

[@HanMasho]

Now museum, now you don't.

[@helloofthebeach]

Why can't all criminals be Carmen Sandiego?

[@harriehausenman8623]

Sounds like a missed "Leverage" epsidoe :-)

[@pistachioperson]

thank you so much for talking at colonial art theft and the Benin bronzes. as an art historian from Germany its a extremely relevant topic to me. Germany is currently in the process of restitution of Benin bronzes to Nigeria, as well. its been a long and fucked up journey but at least the German art world seems to be confronting the important task of decolonization. great video!

[@laurenbastin8849]

God, just hearing about those burning paintings filled me with anguish about what was lost just because Stefan’s Mother was worried about the law

[@drakoz254]

Jacob, you're really really good at this whole storytelling thing. I've heard that first story maybe 5 times now and this was a punchy and hilarious rendition that I won't soon forget. Please don't stop making these videos.

[@curiousteddie]

12:30 is roughly the point at which i gasped "oh god no" and started clutching my head. Knowing what would happen didn't make it any less horrible

[@Charles-mi7yv]

It would be great if Ethiopia took the Bronzes on loan, then simply put out a press release saying "We are stealing these back, they are ours now, you won't get a dime."

[@tubebrocoli]

Nigeria, not Ethiopia. There's an entire continent between them.

[@KarasuInaiga]

Nigeria, not Ethiopia.

[@riograndedosulball248]

Between Ethiopia and Nigeria lies a distance greater than that of Warsaw to Lisbon

[@makslargu5799]

Interestingly, Ethiopia was the only country in Africa to never be colonized

[@Dorsidwarf]

@@makslargu5799 The Italians sneaked in at the end to break that victory

[@phantomkitten73]

You are a KZbinr that actually convinced me to read something; I read The Feather Thief, and loved it! Granted, I didn't use Audible like you said, but I read it, and coming back to this video is interesting. For example, I know that you did say that the fleeting sense of justice is unimportant compared to the pain of the loss, BUT YOU DIDN'T MENTION THAT HE ESCAPED CHARGES! Yeah, he didn't go to jail.

[@ryleexiii1252]

I've been avoiding clicking on this video for weeks because I just wanted to keep the image alive in my mind of someone literally stealing an entire museum (building included).

[@thoughtengine]

Plausible, some aren't exactly that big, and others may actually be inside a movable structure such as a ship or a rake of railway wagons.

[@owgirl]

The Nier: Automata music makes me wanna cry while watching this, Really fitting.

[@trombonegamer14]

Is beethoven 7 in that game? Or is there more music later on in the video?

[@rodrigo2070]

YES, I couldn't believe it was actually Nier: Automata at the start

[@rodrigo2070]

@@trombonegamer14 it starts at 7:00

[@AgentBJ2]

Jack Marlow Its the song that plays at the end of the video, starting around the 16 minute mark.

[@TheDudeManBro]

Brendan Jacques the forest plays somewhere in the middle as well

[@rolcaza]

i literally held my head in my hands and threw my arms up in cartoonish but genuine despair when he said she set those paintings on fire

[@Moostery]

I used to love horror stories and movies because of how they made me feel. I haven't felt anything watching them for a long time now but the sadness I felt while watching this was like a cannon ball to the chest.

[@justinstrange5945]

"I can't tell you what to do with the rest of your life, but I can tell you how to get one free book!" * slow clap * Well played, good sir. Well. Played.

[@UndercoverAkatsuki]

Absolutely stellar video, your best yet imo all your videos about art so far have been incredible and this one is no exception. As a zoologist I was instantly horrified over the bird theft, especially as I recently completed a project using specimens exactly like that to analyze the feather patterns off, using technology we never could have thought of when they were collected. There is such a huge potential in natural historical collection, which continues to realize itself as the field builds upon itself which makes the loss of material, especially material so rare, so much more painful. But anyway, aside from that, the juxtaposition of the different cases was brilliant, wonderfully presented and again your use of music is spot on

[@natashapearson2773]

This video moves me for many different reasons, but mostly because you found the perfect musical accompaniment to these stories in the ethereal, lonely soundtrack to a weird physics puzzle game that dominated my childhood.

[@JacobGeller]

Thank you! I spend a ton of time on the music, happy it paid off :)

[@r33dbrodie]

I've rewatched this video a bunch of times and the part where he talks about the paintings burning makes me tear up every time

[@analias1983]

Yeah :(

[@bilbeman4125]

It always rankles when people say Africa had no culture. Their cultures were as rich and developed as anyone elses, but they were looted and colonized into oblivion.

[@ZoomahZoomah]

Africa is not a monolith. Some places in Africa were more culturally technologically and economically advanced than others. However, it's disingenuous to claim that any nation in Africa had reached the levels of European nations (on any metric) by the time that these European nations colonised most of the world.

[@man.6618]

@@ZoomahZoomah that literally isn't what the comment was saying at all u dickass

[@ZoomahZoomah]

@@man.6618 That's exactly what the commenter claimed and my reply was both accurate and reasonable.

[@man.6618]

@@ZoomahZoomah in that case, the problem appears to be that u don't know what culture means. saying that africa's cultures were as rich and as developed as any other nation's is not saying that they were as technologically advanced as any other countries were, it is saying that they had centuries of rich artistic and cultural history embedded into their society, the same as literally any other civilization on earth. reading "africa had a rich cultural history" and immediatley thinking "duuuuurrr they never had a lenoardo davinci durrrrr" is either an extremely eurocentric way of looking at world history or indicative of abysmal reading comprehension skills. and i'll write tings however i fucking want to, dickass :)

[@ZoomahZoomah]

@@man.6618 "As rich and developed as anyone elses" is unambiguous. It means rich and developed. If you have to "redefine" what was said for your point of view to be correct then you are not correct.

[@thecodewarrior7925]

This is how I feel whenever a museum or library burns down, either in modern or historical times. If I had a time machine I would dedicate myself to going back and saving all those irreplaceable books and artifacts.

[@danielanderson6933]

@c4blec I think it's the opposite, a story where a time traveler goes back in time to stop the library of Alexandria from burning, only to find out that the time machine crashing into the library is what causes the fire in the first place.

[@tavynmay]

Stéphane’s mother is the true villain of his story

[@IndirectCogs]

Jacob, one of the things that I love about your essays is your dramatic delivery of lines. You emphasize things so well, and with such emotion. The first time I watched this video, and you said "And she sets them on fire!" My heart raced. My heart raced again just now as I heard it again. You're a truly talented storyteller. Thank you so much for this channel.

[@dumbass4615]

I almost cried with this video, the most sad thing for me is the loss of knowledge and art.

[@corythomas474]

Colonialism is by far one of the most horrible things that I have to face on a day to day basis, and it takes everything I have not to weep when I see civilisations, their art, their culture, their families, torn apart for the simple wanton greed for the whole world's wealth. My tribe was nigh destroyed in 1862. My great great grandparents, according to the government of canada and the parish in which they resided, decided that we were naturalised, and that all records before then had no reason to exist. They burned it all, and started again with no recognition of what came before. So when I see the British Museum, full of other civilisations culture and art, kept in timeless record, far from home and never to be returned, it burns me. It burns because I know they talk about them, about us, in the past tense. Like we're all gone. Like there's nothing left but what they managed to save from us savages going extinct. Fuck I'm so angry and sad and I'm sure this is just a ramble but I really appreciate your videos, and this one dug a little too close to home in the best way. Keep up the great work.

[@JacobGeller]

Thank you so much. Your living memory, and your work passing that down, are (tragically) some of our best ways of remembering their legacy now.

[@titaniumvulpes]

I know almost your exact pain and frustration. My great grandmother was one of many Natives forcibly converted to Mormonism at the turn of the century and my family has spent generations trying to recover from that, clinging to roots and traditions that, after decades of any officially-recognizable lineage locked up in Mormon vaults somewhere, are technically illegal for us to practice (particularly, ironically enough considering the subject of the video, many traditions involving bird feathers). So I just wanted to say, stay strong, 'cause we're here to stay no matter how much some people want to pretend we all died out a hundred or two years ago.

[@gallanonim3328]

You are suffering from a condition called belief in the noble savage myth. You are romanticizing something you know very little about, covering it with an aura of innocence and pacifism, and contrasting with well documented history, that of the "oppressors". In reality, pre-modern societes were both universally violent and fragile. We don't know much about 99% societes in human history, because they kinda disappeared "on their own", which doesn't mean there were no actors and violence involved, but change a few variables here and there and the entire structure collapses, making space for a new one. Oral traditions, buildings made of primitive materials don't survive without constant upkeep. And for most human history, they did not. Most Africans are descendants of Bantu tribes, who, during the Bantu expansion, absorbed (or, more likely, killed), all the local tribes. The variable was technology: the Bantus had access to iron weapons and knew agriculture. Most Europeans are descendants of many ancient peoples, due to multiple invasions, like that of the Indo-Europeans, who did essentially what the Bantus did in Africa. The variable was horses which the Indo-Europeans had, and the aboriginal Europeans did not. In the case of Native Americans, that variable was geography. As soon as the first Eurasian set foot on American soil, the diseases that Native Americans never had the chance to acquire even partial immunity to, burned their way through the entire continent. Instead of longing for a Garden of Eden accept your roots whatever they are (you look white tbh) and understand that for almost the entirety of human history life was a struggle for survival, and violence and conquest were universal phenomena. We don't do this anymore in the First World because we can afford not to.

[@DJChiefX197]

@@80ki68 You don't have to put others' down to lament a dark part of your own culture's past. To say, also, that culture is not so important because we could all be super pragmatic utilitarians is kind of crass? Cycles of poverty and other such vicious cycles exist, some were started by colonialism and driven by subsequent marginalization, that's an issue that affects society even today. Colonization and the subjugation of people is greedy and supremacist, with negative effects that span many generations, I'd say there's value in speaking about it.

[@chrisbeaudoin9818]

@@80ki68 so yes let's learn from it, however as a Canadian who is taught the normal imperialist and colonialist school curriculum it is evident that we are not learning from it. Learning from our past would be meaningful reconciliation, but instead we get almost none of that. There is still a vibrant native american culture here who still suffer the consequences of colonialism. The last residential school closed in the 1990s, yet there are people like you who want us all to think that colonialism is some long gone thing that doesn't matter anymore and that we should get over it. Reconciliation is recognizing indigenous rights and cultures, and attempting to stop racist tendencies in our governments, schools and homes. This "see no colour" type mindset you have reinforces a racist society. We can't live all equally as one until we recognize injustices against certain groups.

[@gafined2345]

I find it funny that the mom is worse than the actual thief

[@Emily-yz9zd]

I teared up when you described the paintings burning

[@indigoblack396]

This hit me hard and really took me back by how deep I felt pained by this. Just hearing how the mother threw all of that art in the river and burned the rest of it....not gonna lie it teared me up a bit. I just felt this deep, panicked pain over such a loss. I think it's because I archive stuff in my spare time as a hobby and I understand how important archiving, especially digital archiving, is in order to make preserve works of art. Digital archiving is even more so important for cases like these where even if the original is lost we can still save the content of the work for future generations. This was a very well made video. Defiantly gonna go through your channel more to see what else I can find!

[@bex--]

It's these stories that make me feel so ill in my stomach and there isn't a way to stop it. Thinking about how the tags on those birds were just thrown away without any knowledge of what they meant is sickening.

[@EllipsisMark]

12:45 I went through the 5 stages of grief in 20 seconds. Heartbreaking.

[@lyl14ghost]

"Because he want to buy a golden flute!" Burst out laughing

[@Hephesus]

I've actually seen the Benin Bronzes at the British Museum. They are amazing. The museum also has a very frank history of how they came to posses them, even calling the death of the original force a pretext for the attack. I am not sure what it says about the museum, but I found it interesting that they are so open about the legacy of colonialism.

[@ice-2167]

doesnt excuse them from possessing art of a different culture. If they wanted a history museum, text panels with pictures are enough and respectable

[@ekki1993]

It's what it says about the society that think it's ok. Being frank about it doesn't make it any less fucked up.

[@SameerGuptacatchymango]

They’re not open about it if they think it’s acceptable to say no when countries like India ask for their stuff back.

[@kitcrews9826]

@@ice-2167 I don't think pictures are enough. Historical artifacts are often too difficult to truly understand just through images. Of course, what should happen is that they should be returned and, if the original country wants, be fairly sent on loan either to Britain or around the world.

[@ice-2167]

@@kitcrews9826 The way of thinking, that seeing the real art is better, would promote more tourism in those countries and thus help them economically

[@helloofthebeach]

This is the most devastating video I've watched on KZbin that wasn't about climate change. Excellent work. You inspire me to work harder on my writing. I want to move people the way this moved me.

[@UrNewStepdad91]

There's a new video by TreytheExplainer about the the works of literature that are lost for eternity that noone will ever get the chance to read

[@koolkel00]

As a painter, the words "Garbage disposal" and "Renaissance paintings" being used so close together made me nauseous 😭

[@zeynaviegas5043]

we have a historic museum in my state (São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil), where we have a lot of indigenous people's weapons, vases, cultural instruments and feathers. What makes me feel better is that none of them were stolen, and were actually made BY them, for the museum. When we visited their homes, they made a short documentary about the making of of those things and how they are used. They have human skulls, tho, but those are archeological findings.

[@sirisaacnewton435]

My heart sunk along with all of those artifacts into the canal. Also, thank you for brining my attention to the Kingdom of Benin. I would never have realized that such an astonishing kingdom had ever existed and I feel disappointed in that I didn’t know about it and most people never will. African art truly deserves more attention.

[@monzorella1]

African before the European came was a continent full of sophisticated civilisations. But because of brutal racism, these were destroyed and the whole world was deceived into thinking that Africa and Africans were devoid intelligence and innovation. 😔 A lie still believed till this day.

[@leahbivens3849]

Damn, that was powerful. I physically felt sick while listening to these tragic losses. Amazing video and research! I love your videos so much, I can't wait to see what you have in store next time! :D

[@YouTubdotCub]

I discovered your videos a few months ago and have been savouring them, going through them slowly. Watched most of 'em at this point and I think this one is my favourite so far.

[@seppelnachsteiger6151]

This is one of the most painful videos I have watched for a while. It's basically "Why we cant have nice things."

[@ZealSenpai]

The way the kid sells the feathers for a golden flute Is like stealing the most rare RGB RAM and selling it just to buy a golden PC Case

[@sallylee4924]

I think it's the other way around. Gold alloy does make the flute sound different and have a wider range of tones. Also, many serious flutists aspire to have a gold flute, since Sir James Galway plays one. More like, stealing a rare PC case made of extinct animals to sell it to buy a RAM made of gold (that might runs faster or better in the right hands) because the most famous computer has a RAM made of gold.

[@cirlu_bd]

selling RGB RAM to buy vBucks with the money.

[@exyzt9877]

@@sallylee4924 wouldn't a ram made of pure silver be a better analogy? Silver is the best conductor of electricity we currently have.

[@adampliszka4855]

@@exyzt9877 Ram dice are made of silicon, the other parts don't really matter, but if they did, the thermal properties would be important, not conductivity. But all the metaphors feel kind of forced. He stole priceless specimens to get the best possible flute he could, because there's a possibility it's a bit better than others, and the psychological perception that it's much better.

[@jakobwhaley5641]

@@sallylee4924 Im sorry but I was mad and wrote all this, I didn't mean to direct any anger at you, just had someone bump into me and look disgusted at me as if I just murdered their whole family and it really has pissed me off today Before reading Tldr: you can't accurately compare dead bird feathers to a flute, If you wanna read why, be my guest think all your analogies are flawed, those feathers are priceless and could of done so much while the flute is pure gold and worth tons While yes you can make an analogy out of this, it's like comparing apples to oranges, except these items are both in the same group. They're both food The feathers and the flute are two sperate perfections and have different measured of value depending on what you use it for or depending on how you look at it, you cannot accurately compare the two because they are different things, I'm different professions with different uses and ways of being used. It's like comparing a glock to a hamburger, The Glock has a different way of being made, different uses and purposes and different things overall Ones for shooting ones for eating (though I've put my gun in my mouth before, so potato-potato) Now let's look at it like this Ones a rare species that was extinct and rare and extremely valuable to the Biologists and so it would be worth thousands, now to a musician they'd probably pay to get rid of a dead bird carcass only because it's useful to a biologist and had no worth to a musician Now a gold flute, it means nothing to a biologist (except the fact it's gold and well, nobody is that stupid, they'd just sell it) because it's of no use to them because they cannot use it the only purpose it has is to sell it. So there's no accurate way to compare them because they mean different thing to different professions with different usages. You can compare hotdogs and hamburgers Carlos guitar to ibanez (ibanez is better for sure) You can compare things I'm the same category and group thats because they both have a goal and what determines what's better is whatever achieves said goal the best. Dead bird feathers and a flute have different uses and can't be compared. So

[@keepermovin5906]

When I heard that the mom threw all the paintings into the river I literally said what the f*** out loud

[@ANunes06]

My first thought was "Stefan's gonna kill himself over that." My second thought was "Because he can't kill his mother from prison."

[@iisquared77]

i think most people have an individual piece of media, sometimes more, that they wish they could experience for the first time again. rarely do i feel this feeling, even less so for youtube videos. i will happily rewatch videos despite knowing every word of them within my memory. i wish i could watch this video for the first time again and again, every time it is recommended to me. it is wonderfully crafted. the build up of stephanes story and the climax is something i wish to experience over and over again

[@laurenm3148]

4 minutes in and it's already a roller coaster. I'm obsessed with this.

[@BlindSnipingPro]

My mans got blessed by the youtube algorithm

[@stew4842]

Thank you for always creating interesting and intriguing content. The day I found you I literally watched all of your videos and ive been hooked ever since.

[@lyrathemad]

what you didn't mention is that the bronzes detailed Benin's history when read chronologically- meaning now that they're out if context, the civilization's history is lost- forever

[@hudsonmcgaughey6798]

Everything about this video is fantastic -- the writing, the music, the visuals, and the storytelling. Thank you for this, Jacob.

[@clearly9321]

Great video!! I love grappling with the existential sadness of seeing art and beautiful cultures lost while I'm on my way home

[@amethyst_cosmos]

everyday I wait for a Jacob Geller video and when it actually happens it's amazing, huge inspiration to my writing (even if it's only for 10th grade English) :)

[@jackstoutamore8541]

Same here! (9th grade English though)

[@tezozomoe]

Thank you, Jacob. This was thrilling to watch and I look forward to watching more of your content.

[@Stop4MotionMakr]

I think the one time I really felt this tremendous sense of loss was when I heard the story of Carthage on the Fall of Civilisation podcast. Before that I hadn't really heard stories of such complete and deliberate destruction of an entire civilisation. And for days after I just felt this stinging sense of loss and melancholy about what could have been, all the art, architecture and poetry that we won't ever even be able to even ponder because someone over two and a half thousand years ago made the concerted effort to wipe an entire culture clean off the face of the earth.

[@newdove8113]

This deserves more views. Lost art, history, etc. gets to me on an existential level. It terrifies and pains me because all that's left of people when they're gone are memories and what they left behind. The life lessons, the stories, the works, the legacy of a person who died long ago can be destroyed and forgotten too quickly and easily. The other day, I was thinking about how I know nothing of my relatives past my great-great grand parents. Beyond that there's just... nothing. Who knows what they thought, how they reacted to past events, or even what they did for a living. Those people are a part of me, and I don't know anything about them. It's just one family's lineage, but it feels like so much has been lost. Whole histories and cultures have been lost to time. The loss is astounding.

[@justjoe4390]

I mean... you could just live in the now, you know? Why does it really matter to you what your great-great-great-great grandmother thought? Unless you come from a culture that practices ancestor worship (you sound like you don't), your ancestors are basically strangers. And it's very likely that if you knew them in their own time, they'd be dull, boring, or possibly even awful people. Who knows if your great-great-great-great grandmother was a raging racist, for instance?

[@brucebenik2]

5 stars Three interesting, unconnected stories that strike me as works of fiction tied together with a common theme. Destruction of stolen art, culture, and history. I haven’t begun researching these stories yet, but i want to live in this moment of not knowing if this is true or an elaborate fiction presented as non-fiction much like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The script is probably the most important part of this video, as it carefully pulls out a few separate strings and slowly carefully loops them around, until its too late. The knot is tied around the ear of the listener, and I am trapped.

[@JacobGeller]

Thank you so much! They're all true, research sources in the description!

[@jackalackb17]

Never let your mother tidy your room.

[@moregenleren]

this is literally one of the best and most impactful videos I have ever seen, keep up the amazing work!

[@wyatttibbitts8603]

When the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s 7th comes in at the very beginning, you know it going to be a good video.

[@mustafaahmad5382]

And nier:automata's ost too

[@Comment3230]

I’m stealing Le Louvre and you can’t stop me

[@gradientLX701]

unrelated to the video but THANK YOU for crediting the music, i recognized something that i had been trying to find the name of for a long time!